Update: The Minister of Tourism wants to make taxi drivers into tourism ambassadors with “basic communication skills”.

TRANSIT could not let this article pass by without posting it and commenting.

The Minister of Tourism wants to make taxi drivers into tourism ambassadors with “basic communication skills”Unfortunately, we are terribly busy with yesterday’s planned post on the recent interview with SPAD about bus transformation – so once again, we will just post the article and try to get our comments updated as soon as possible.

Mohd Nur Kamal, chief executive of the Land Public Transport Commission which just turned 1 in January, tells Tan Choe Choe that his agency is looking at several options but more time is needed to come up with the best solution to the national bus crisis.

The worst cities in the world for parking, according to IBM. Image & data courtesy of IBM.

Our original post:

For 5 years and in fact, many more, the members of TRANSIT have been talking about improving public transportation to bring flexibility to our communities.

We recognize the importance of the car, but unlike others, we recognize that our communities do not have to be totally dependent on the car as our only means of getting around.

That is why we at TRANSIT have continuously called for better, more reliable public transport – buses, trains and LRT – to give the public reliable alternatives.

The problem is that the focus of the government and authorities has been on building more LRT or MRT. Yet they forget that a majority of public transport users get to KL via buses – and the fastest, easiest way to get more people to use public transport is to make buses more reliable, faster, and more efficient.

This would encourage the public to use public transport, rather than attempting to drive into the city – creating unnecessary pressure on our roads, an artificial shortage of parking spaces, and a pointless and wasteful use of precious space in our city centre for the storage of cars.

TRANSIT members were shocked and disappointed to read the news in The Star today, which shared the results of a survey by the Sleep Disorder Society of Malaysia and the JKJR which showed that a significant number of Malaysian bus drivers suffer from sleep disorders.

“The survey was carried out on 300 bus drivers from five transport companies nationwide and what shocked us the most was that eight percent are at a severe level,” he told Bernama at the Sleep Disorder Society Malaysia (SDSM) Scientific Meeting – Towards Healthier Sleep in Malaysia event, here on Saturday.

TRANSIT took note of this interesting and disturbing article about the introduction of a night market at the site of the old North Klang bus terminal, which was closed in late 2007 when Klang Sentral was opened.

The irony, of course, is that the bus area remains closed to buses – despite the fact that most buses that serve Klang town have returned to the North Klang bus terminal area, and Klang residents have called on the MPK to improve amenities and facilities.

What makes it worse is that in 4 years, the Selangor government has not stepped in to improve public transport in Klang, reopening the North Klang bus terminal and introducing new services. In addition, SPAD has not stepped in and resolved the issue, despite entreaties from TRANSIT, who recommended to SPAD that solving the Klang Sentral and North Klang bus terminal issues was the best place for them to get started.

The resolution of the North Klang bus terminal issue is going to be a major factor in any improvement to public transport in the west Klang Valley.

TRANSIT took note of this interesting piece of information from the Selangor Times – a plan for “Rapid Transit Bus” routes, minibus services and limited-stop bus routes in Petaling Jaya.

Selangor Times diagram showing proposals for public transport in Petaling Jaya.

Click here for a larger version of the image above. The February 3, 2012 issue of Selangor Times can be seen here in the scribd feed.

The proposed line would run from a bus terminal in SS7 (near the proposed SS7 LRT station?) to the bus terminal in Damansara Damai, running via Subang Airport Road, Jalan Sg. Buloh and Jalan Kuala Selangor. Whether or not the line can be considered as “Bus Rapid Transit” (or another name for Bus Expressway Transit or Expressway Rapid Transit) remains to be seen – after all, we (indeed, the public in general) have to look at the details of the plan.

According to this article in the Selangor Times, “Water taxis in PJ by 2015?” boats and hovercrafts will also ferry passengers from jetties built along Sungai Damansara, Sungai Kayu Ara, Sungai Penchala, Sungai Tambul and Sungai Payong.

Seriously? As great (well, “creative”) as all these ideas are, we would like to see the MBPJ take the steps to improve public transport first – like setting up a public transport / urban transport office to determine how realistic and feasible these plans are.

Then, engage with the public to set up a MBPJ transport council to discuss these proposals, and implement actual public consultation to see if the public actually want these proposed services.

Finally, figure out how to run the service in a way that actually works and get people to use public transport.

TRANSIT took note of this interesting article which discusses the Open Day that Prasarana is holding to share information about the LRT Extension Programme Open Day which will inform the public about the Ampang & Kelana Jaya LRT extension plans.

KUALA LUMPUR: Syarikat Prasarana Negara Berhad (Prasarana) and Universiti Tun Hussein Onn Malaysia (UTHM) yesterday signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) in an effort to create professionals in the rail industry and improve the quality of Malaysia’s public transportation system.

Prasarana group managing director Datuk Shahril Mokhtar said that under the MoU, UTHM would introduce a new Masters in Railway Engineering course this year where qualified staff of Prasarana’s rail division will have preference in gaining entry to the university.

“This we believe will open a new era in pursuance of excellence in education and further uplift the standard of Malaysia’s railway industry specifically, and public transportation in general,” he told reporters after the signing here.

Shahril inked the MoU for Prasarana while UTHM was represented by its vice-chancellor, Prof Datuk Dr Mohd Noh Dalimin.

Elaborating, Shahril said the strategic collaboration with institutions of higher learning was part of Prasarana’s initiatives towards enhancing the quality of its staff, describing them as the company’s key assets in the realisation of its Go Forward Plan (GFP) targets.

“Today also marked a new beginning in Prasarana’s emphasis on development of human capital and staff resourcefulness as we continue rigorous efforts to pursue the agenda of our GFP, which has entered its second year,” he said.

Shahril said that through the programme, Prasarana aimed to inculcate values like innovative thinking, operational excellence and enhanced efficiency among its staff. — Bernama

TRANSIT Says:

As you can imagine, we at TRANSIT are always pleased to hear of initiatives to improve the skills & knowledge & capability of the Malaysian rail industry, towards improving railway engineering and creating a new generation of professional railway engineers.

But a public transport industry cannot be built by railway engineers and civil engineers alone. There is also a need for professional public transport planners, regulators, and experts in the organization and management of public transport services, public transport information relay, communications, asset management, and a thousand other jobs that make for an effective public transport system.

So while we are certainly pleased about the initiative to build up Malaysia’s rail industry, we also need to take steps to develop Malaysia’s public transport industry.

Perhaps it will be SPAD who takes the lead there. But mark what TRANSIT says – someone has to do this job because without this, we will never truly improve public transport in Malaysia.

TRANSIT took note of this interesting and disappointing news about the Brickfields – Jalan Tun Sambanthan bus lane, shut down by the government beginning February 6th, after only 2 months in operation.

The big question from TRANSIT is WHY? What are the reasons why the government chose to back down on the plan for the bus lane, and is this a reflection of a government that listens to public protests, or just poor planning, bad policy, or a weak government?

And more importantly, this really raises questions about strength of the government’s commitment to improving public transport – especially in light of the fact that bus lanes in KL are simply not working right now.